Eco-logic

HOUSTON (October 1st, 2010)- The Community Artists’ Collective (the Collective) is pleased to announce the opening of Eco-logic from October 15, 2010 through November 13, 2010. The exhibit showcases the politics of human interaction and response to the natural environment with work by Shannon Duncan (Houston), Amy Gerhauser (Austin), Raishad Glover (New York), Tierney Malone (Houston), Andy “Champa” Moore (New York), Kaneem Smi…th (Houston) and Youngsuk Suh (San Francisco). The Eco-logic exhibition curated by Divya Murthy and Michael K. Taylor will open with a reception Friday, October 15, 2010 from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. The exhibition runs in cooperation with Life is Living and the Mitchell Center which will host a second welcoming reception at the Collective on Nov. 3rd from 6-9pm, with an artist talk at 6:45 p.m.

Shannon Duncan’s photographic tree grid results from a compulsion to collect and archive discarded and abandoned objects. Her work presents three selected views of trees affected by Hurricane Ike in 2008 and a floor installation of actual documented tree stumps removed after Ike. Duncan’s project is an ongoing pro-active process in which she replants and documents the trees at the same sites.

Amy Gerhauser creates one-of-a-kind map installations showing the direction of currents and location of gyres dealing with the issue of plastics accumulating in the ocean and its effect on pelagic birds. She plays with the shapes of the North Pacific Ocean and images of albatrosses, which are especially vulnerable to plastic debris mistaken for food. Her drawn graphite and iron-capped maps reference science to create visually informative installations.

Raishad Glover creates performative imagery integrating natural organic materials such as diamond dust, soy ink and cotton paper to show chemical descriptions of mass consumption. He utilizes mainly natural organic media to visually comment on transactions of power, natural resources and economy. By using bold colors and referencing Western art history, Glover encourages his viewer to question consumption and class.

Tierney Malone references social awareness through the re-telling of narratives. He has created a new set of colorful works expounding on the challenges of social activism against human “greed” by highlighting the environmental awareness of Dr. Seuss’ 1971 childrens’ book The Lorax. Malone’s sophisticated imagery suggests that the Lorax’s speaking out against the “Once-lers” shameless destruction of their own habitat is reflective of our need to preserve and sustain our community against environmental indifference.

Andy “Champa” Moore’s audio installation collects and contrasts many of the disparate sounds from urban streets and rural landscapes allowing the listener to reconsider the nature of “silence” and “noise.” Moore’s ability to create an auditory experience that dislocates the audience from the white cube brings attention to the underrepresented environment of sound as an art form.

Kaneem Smith’s massive installation opens the dialogue on commercial crop trading with special focus on coffee beans. By creating large fluid shapes out of “found” commercial burlap bags, Smith’s piece challenges her audience to participate in a dialogue that references global concerns on ethical trade, the West’s over- consumption of natural resources, colonialist interactions on the natural environment and economy of developing nations.

Youngsuk Suh’s stunning photographs magnify the complex interdependency of our relationship with the natural world through contemporary rural landscapes using the smoke created by wildfires as a reference of the luminous effects of 19th Century Romantic landscape paintings. Suh addresses the nature of wildfires’ large-scale government response projects, which reveal central questions about human presence in nature and the overwhelming uncertainty of human control over natural phenomena in our society.

Life is Living (Nov. 3rd, the Collective reception) is a hip-hop-based environmental justice festival focused primarily on Houston’s Third Ward neighborhood and the extraordinary people who sustain Houston communities and is sponsored by the Mitchell Center and additional partners at Emancipation Park on Nov. 6th. Houston’s New Living has donated their NOVOC low-voc paint to assist in repainting the Collective gallery as an example of environmentally friendly and sustainable choices for family and community dwellings.

The Collective, located at 1413 Holman in the Midtown Art Center (Tea Room Gallery), is open Thursday through Saturday from 12 noon to 5 p.m. and by appointment. For more information call 713-523-1616.

The Community Artists’ Collective promotes and preserves for all people evidence of African American cultural traditions. Its programs are supported in part by a grant from the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance and through collaborations with community organizations. The Collective is a member of the Fresh Arts Coalition.

For more info visit www.thecollective.org or www.lifeisliving.org/houston